2011 YJI Contest Winners

Youth Journalism International honors students in 16 countries in annual awards contest

WEST HARTFORD, Connecticut, U.S.A. – Youth Journalism International’s annual awards contest honored students in 16 countries, including an Egyptian teen tapped for the nonprofit’s first Courage in Journalism Award.

“Students’ work is so often overlooked that we’re thrilled to highlight some of the best young journalists across the globe,” said Steve Collins, YJI’s board president. “Those who say journalism is dying should take a look at what we see day in and day out. They’d feel a lot better about the prospects for this crucial profession.”

Winners of the five major categories receive crystal trophies while others are honored with custom made certificates.

Judges picked Meghan Morris of Wayne, Penn. as the Student Journalist of the Year for her dedication to press freedom and high quality work.

Meghan Morris, YJI's 2011 Student Journalist of the Year

“Journalism allows me to tell stories that might otherwise not be told,” Morris said after learning of her selection. “I get to learn about so many different areas and so many different people.”

Morris graduated this month from Conestoga High School in Berwyn, Penn., where she served as co-editor of The Spoke. She is attending Medill School at Northwestern University in the fall, where she plans to study journalism.

In the always difficult category of Journalism Educator of the Year, which had many strong contenders, judges picked Jill Cook, the advisor for Tyro at Brookfield Central High School in Brookfield, Wisc.

Jill Cook, YJI's 2011 Journalism Educator of the Year

Called “a motivator and mentor like none other” by her students, Cook won praise for creating “a safe haven, an oasis in the desert that is high school.”

Students Kriya Patel, Jack Peterson and Michael Pan said their paper is like a second home.

As its dedicated advisor for two decades, Cook “has helped countless students find their true calling and inspired many of us to consider writing and journalism as a valuable asset to our lives,” Patel said.

Cook, a long-time board member of the Kettle Moraine Press Association, said she had no idea her students had nominated her.

The new Courage in Journalism Award went to Jessica Elsayed, a high school senior in Alexandria, Egypt who provided firsthand reporting on the Egyptian uprising from its beginning.

Elsayed kept a worldwide audience informed of the fast-moving events that transformed her country despite the risk that journalists faced as government-supported thugs took aim at protestors. She provided a face and a voice for the revolution.

Cresonia Hsieh won the Jacinta Marie Bunnell Award for Commentary for writing the best piece giving voice to an important issue.

Her piece about the death of Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers student who killed himself by jumping off the George Washington Bridge, recalled her time with Clementi in a church youth group and a lament that she had failed to reach out more.

Earning the Frank Keegan “Take No Prisoners” Award for News went to Jenny Hottle, a senior at John Carroll High School in Bel Air, Md.

Hottle, who plans to study journalism at the University of Maryland in the fall, wrote about student drinking at her small high school, always a touchy subject.

“I just liked being able to investigate a story and let people know what’s going on in the school or the community. I like being the voice for that,” she said.

Award-winning journalists from Europe, Africa and North America helped judge the yearly contest, including a media professional from ESPN and a visuals editor from Pennsylvania.

Youth Journalism International has been educating the next generation of news professionals and talented teens since 1994. Formally created in 2007, it is a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit public charity. Its website can be found at www.youthjournalism.org.

The contest covered work published in English between Jan. 1, 2010 and February 1, 2011. Those eligible must be 19 or under and not working professionally. Results were announced on May 30, 2011.

Entries came from 13 U.S. states and 16 countries.

For more information, please contact Jackie Majerus, Youth Journalism International’s executive director, at (860) 523-9632 in Connecticut or by writing to yjicontest@gmail.com.

A complete list of winners follows.

2011 Excellence in Journalism Contest Winners

HIGHEST HONORS

STUDENT JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR

Meghan Morris of Wayne, Penn., attending Conestoga High School in Berwyn, Penn., co-editor, The Spoke

JOURNALISM EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR

WINNER – Jill Cook, of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin who is the Tyro advisor at Brookfield Central High School in Brookfield, Wisconsin

FIRST PLACE – Jessica Elsayed of Alexandria, Egypt, attending the Egyptian American School, Luke Pearson of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, attending Hastings High School; Mary Majerus-Collins of West Hartford, Connecticut, attending Bristow Middle School; Alma Macbride of West Hartford, Connecticut, attending Hall High School and Kiernan Majerus-Collins of West Hartford, Connecticut, attending Hall High School, for their collaborative work on “King Tut in New York & Egypt”

FIRST PLACE – Led by Nicole Megan Gounder of Durban, South Africa, attending University of KwaZulu Natal; with supporting work by Becca Lazarus of Windsor, Conn., attending Windsor High School; Laquandria Fenn, of Hartford, Conn., attending Hartford High School; Kiernan Majerus-Collins of West Hartford, Conn., attending Hall High School; Mariechen Puchert of Cape Town, South Africa, attending Stellenbosch University; Mariah Pulver of Tuscon, Arizona, attending Texas Christian University; Eugenia Durante of Genoa, Italy, attending Libera Universita di Lingue e Comunicazione IULM; Cara Nelissen of Ermelo, the Netherlands attending Amsterdam University College and Geraldine Soon of Singapore, attending the National University of Singapore, for their coverage of the World Cup.

PHOTOGRAPHY

News Photo

FIRST PLACE – Mehran Shamit of Toronto, Canada, attending William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute, for “Showcasing Canada’s diversity at York”

SECOND PLACE – Eroll Yabut of Zambales, the Philippines, attending Regional Science High School, for “Learning Something From ‘An Education’”

HONORABLE MENTION – Laquandria Fenn of Hartford, Connecticut, attending Hartford High School and Celeste Kurz of West Hartford, attending Conard High School and Mary Majerus-Collins, Stephanie Reyes and Yelena Samafalova, all of West Hartford, Connecticut, all attending Bristow Middle School, for “Band Geeks!”

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